Not the Fairytale we planned
by unforgetabELLE
Summary: "Maybe it's the same for Adrien. Maybe if everything weren't a jumble that day, it would have been different." "Maybe," she agreed. "But we can't live on maybes. Our fairytale just doesn't seem destined for that happily ever after." "You deserve a happily ever, Princess." "So do you, Chat. And maybe we'll still have one, just one that was different than we planned."
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** I was going to wait to post this until next week...BUT Miraculous Ladybug Season 2 came out today in Spain and I saw the first two episodes and it was ah-may-zing! So worth the wait, thank god!  
Anyway, this story will have a few parts and then it is part of a new series I'm working on (loosely inspired by Carly Simon's Coming Around Again). It's a series of short stories that is going to show snapshots of Adrien and Marinette's lives through the years. Each story will be able to stand alone, but it's the same version of the characters throughout.  
This is part one of the first story, so enjoy!

* * *

Ladybug raced across the rooftops in the fading sunlight towards where she knew he'd be.

"Thank god for Alya," she muttered to herself, her voice lost on the wind as she jumped between buildings and swung over streets.

Her best friend had called her only minutes ago, waking her from her unplanned nap with her exclamations about the most recent akuma attack. Marinette had woken up immediately, practically hung up on Alya and was out the door in a flash. Three years and not once had she slept through an attack, but of course she chose to sleep through this one, an attack that according to Alya's ramblings was the most dangerous akuma yet.

And Chat was alone. She picked up her pace.

Swinging over the tallest building in the arrondissement, she could finally make him out in the distance. She breathed a sigh of relief, seeing him still standing and hard at work, and started to survey the scene while she swung towards them. The akuma seemed to be another man disgruntled over being passed for a job promotion. _If I had a euro for every disgruntled employee_...she started to mutter to herself, but then she took a closer look at the akuma's actions and saw what Alya had meant. He was far more violent than they had fought in the past, and Chat was fighting a losing battle without her. She was the only one who could cleanse the akuma, so all Chat could do was hold him off until she got there. It was their method, and it always worked, but then she usually showed up in a matter of minutes, not a half hour later.

The akuma lifted a car, hurtling it towards a group of reporters, but Ladybug was still too far away.

"Cataclysm!" Chat shouted, jumping towards the flying hunk of metal and disintegrating it before it caused any harm. The reporters thankfully scattered, realizing this story was not worth their lives. Ladybug was grateful, but now Chat's time was limited. She looked at Chat who was clearly losing steam and her heart jumped every time he narrowly escaped an object thrown his way. She needed to end this.

She swung down finally making it to the scene. Running towards the battle, she noticed the moment Chat caught sight of her, his head turning slightly in her direction and a small smile coming to his face. Time froze for a moment as she smiled back.

Unfortunately, that distraction was all the akuma needed, and swiping viciously at Chat, it grabbed him by the tail and flung him into a nearby alley. Ladybug gasped as she saw a flash of green light up the passage before hearing a crash that indicated Chat's landing. She could only hope that something had broken his fall. Without the miraculous suit, an impact like that…

She shook her head, trying to dislodge where her thoughts were going and focus on the immediate danger. She knew there was nothing she could do until the akuma has been taken care of, so she focused on that. The anger that flooded her system gave her a single-minded focus. _No one_ hurt her chaton.

In record time, she located and released the akuma, defeating the exhausted victim and using her miraculous cure before cleansing the butterfly. She didn't know if Chat had wore down the victim or if it was her need to go to him gave her some burst of power, but she didn't have time to question it. She ran from the scene, ignoring the confused akuma victim and brushing off the returning reporters as she skidded into the alley where he'd fallen.

"Chat!" she cried, seeing him laying in a corner of the dead-end alley. His face was turned away from her but she could see his blond hair matted with blood. She didn't waste another second.

She rushed to him and leaned down to turn his head and inspect the wound when the bustle of reporters sounded near the mouth of the alley and she panicked. Grabbing his waist and securing him against her side, she swung up to the rooftop and quickly made her way over the buildings to her house, thankfully only a few short blocks away. Landing on her balcony, she heard him grumble and looked over to see if he could stand to help her. Then she saw his face for the first time and her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped.

"Adrien?"

* * *

 _2 months earlier_

Marinette stood on her balcony, her emotions warring inside of her in a bizarre combination of embarrassment, relief and disbelief. She'd finally gathered up her nerve and asked Adrien out that morning only to have it go...not great.

He'd honestly been a sweetheart about it, telling her he loved her as a friend, and if things were different there would be nothing he would want more... but there was someone else.

"I'm really sorry, Marinette. And I know this may not make sense, because this girl may not even like me back, but…" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his head nervously and not meeting her eyes. "But it wouldn't be fair to you to try something when I know my heart is with someone else."

She was happy she'd waited until they were older to have this conversation with Adrien, because younger Marinette definitely wouldn't have been able to handle the rejection. But she was seventeen now and had definitely over-analyzed her love-life enough to be struck by the similarities between her and Adrien's predicaments. She'd listened as he explained his situation and had to disagree. It made _complete_ sense. Wasn't that exactly how she felt about Chat? For years her Kitty had pursued her, but there had always been Adrien, holding a part of her heart that she wasn't ready to give up on. Until now. She realized in that moment that letting go of that far-flung hope meant she would finally have to face up to her feelings for her partner. That moment had finally come.

She smiled at Adrien then, and the boy smiled back uncertainly, probably expecting the exact opposite of this reaction, but Marinette was running on high as everything seemed to shift into place. She was Adrien's Chat, in love with him even though he couldn't fully reciprocate, and he was her Ladybug, pushing back her advances because his heart belonged to another. It was so ridiculous she felt like laughing and never stopping.

She looked at him and made her decision. She'd never have this boy, not in the way she wanted. They were good friends, but that was as much as it'd ever be and all the romantic fantasies in her head were just that: fantasies. They weren't real, but she already had something real; she'd just been reluctant to admit it. Maybe at first, it was for fear of rejection. Afterall, Chat knew her as Ladybug not Marinette, but they'd been together long enough now that it wasn't a valid excuse anymore. So what if he punned horribly and had cat-ears. He was real, and she trusted Chat with all of her. She just had to hope that his idea of Ladybug wasn't as idealized as her version of Adrien had been. That was her fault, not Adrien's, but it needed to stop. He was real too, and he deserved for someone to see him as a person, flaws and all.

As she stood there, starting to do just that, she couldn't help but mentally compare the two. While it was admittedly a close call, there was a clear winner every time. Maybe if she'd taken Adrien off his pedestal sooner, he'd be a real contender, but Chat was her person, and she wouldn't deny it anymore.

"You should tell her," Marinette surprised herself by saying.

"Wh-what?" Adrien stuttered, and Marinette had to smile at how the tables were turned for once.

"The girl you're in love with? You should tell her. And I don't mean dropping hints. I mean _tell her_."

"Oh...um...but, you're okay? Like...We're okay, right?" Adrien looked so vulnerable in that moment, and Marinette realized how much he must love this other girl. He didn't have many friends, so turning down one of his closest and potentially risking their friendship must have been hard.

"Of course we are!" She leaned into her impulse and reached over and hugged him, feeling him sink into her embrace as the tension left his body. She vowed from that moment on to value him for who he was, not what might be between them.

"Thanks, Mari." And he hugged her back.

Later that night, she was sitting on her balcony, enjoying the last vestiges of the summer warmth when he dropped in. She found it funny that he tended to visit her after patrols not knowing that he was essentially meeting her twice in one night, but she didn't mind. Except maybe tonight. She was still reeling from what she'd realized earlier in the day and it would take a bit for her mind to catch up with what her heart already knew. Nevertheless, seeing him put a smile on her face.

"You seem happy, Princess," Chat remarked with surprise.

"I am...confused," she admitted. "But I am happy, too. Why?" She looked at him, and noticed his perplexed look. "Does that surprise you?"

"Well," he reached up and rubbed the back of his head nervously. The action struck her as familiar, but she supposed she'd seen Chat do it countless times without noticing. He continued. "I kind of heard about what happened today. I mean, what that jerk Adrien did…"

"He's not a jerk," she responded immediately. "He's my friend. He's not required to return my feelings and he was very nice about turning me down."

"Sorry," Chat said, but she could detect a smile playing at the corner of his lips for some reason at her response. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"You didn't. I just don't want people making something out of it that it wasn't." She sighed, looking away from Chat and back out onto the cityscape.

"Do you-Do you think you'll get over him?" Chat asked tentatively, hopping down from where he was perched on the railing and coming to stand next to her.

"There's not really much to get over, actually. We never got started, so everything in my mind is all _what could have been_. I love Adrien and I think I always will, but he's a friend. He may be my _what if_ , but I know there's something real out there for me. I think I would have seen him sooner if I hadn't put Adrien on this untoppable pedestal."

"So, there's someone else for you too?" Chat's expression was hopeful, with just a twinge of sadness and she gave him a soft smile.

"Yeah, I think there is," she took a deep breath of the night air and tucked some wayward strands of hair behind her ear. "Now I just need to make sure I want him for _him_ and not as some consolation prize."

"He's your second choice, then?"

"No," Marinette responded fervently, shocked by how passionately she felt about this, but realizing she was talking to the man himself and needed to make this very clear. "I think if I had met him first, none of this would be an issue, but I suppose our story wasn't meant to be easy." She laughed at the misfortune of her own situation. "And then Adrien game me that stupid umbrella, and well, I was toast. And here we are." She shrugged.

"When did you meet the other guy?"

"The same day!" she exclaimed. "But Adrien just got under my skin from the first moment and yo-the other guy," she caught herself. "Well...it was more complicated and he was more of a slow burn."

His miraculous beeped, and she finally forced herself to meet his eyes.

"You should get going, Kitty." She flicked her head outward, but he seemed hesitant to move.

"Maybe-" he started, but paused to collect his words. "Maybe it's the same for Adrien. Maybe if the timing were different, if everything weren't a jumble that day, it would have been different."

"Maybe," she agreed, smiling at his attempt to comfort her. "But we can't live on _maybes_. Our fairytale just doesn't seem destined for that happily ever after."

"You deserve a happily ever after, Princess," he responded, his voice thick with emotion.

"So do you, Chat. And maybe we'll still have one, just one that was different than we planned." She looked over and placed her hand on his with a smile. His ring beeped again and she knew she needed to shoo him off her balcony. As much as she wanted to know his identity, now was not the time.

"You should go. I'll see you later, chaton," she leaned up and kissed his cheek before retreating back into her room.

* * *

Chat stood there, watching her go, perplexed by the sound of Ladybug's nickname for him on Marinette's lips, but not at all bothered by it. He knew in that moment that Marinette was absolutely right. If the timing had been different, if he'd seen her-if he'd _really seen_ Marinette-first, this all would be different.

 _But we can't live on maybes._

He sighed, vaulting off towards home in the humid Parisian night.


	2. Chapter 2

"Adrien?"

He grunted in response to her whispered question and she tried to pause the spinning of her mind to focus on what was important. He was hurt and she needed to take care of that first. The miraculous cure usually fixed everything, including injuries, but maybe it was different because they were the miraculous holders...she just didn't know! Taking another look at his head wound that was still bleeding freely, she laid him down on her balcony and released her transformation.

Tikki floated over to him, and found a small black cat, which must have been his kwami.

"Tikki, I'm going to get you cookies and then we need to transform back. He needs a hospital." Marinette turned to go, but Tikki's voice stopped her.

"And cheese," she whispered. "Plagg-his kwami-needs cheese."

With no time for questions, Marinette nodded, hurrying downstairs to get what she needed, thankful that her parents were in the bakery and she didn't have to waste time making excuses, before she was back on her balcony. Tikki ate just enough, and then they were off, Ladybug holding Adrien tightly against her side until she swung down into an alley next to the hospital. Releasing her transformation, it was harder to half-carry a semi-conscious Adrien towards the entrance, but the ER attendants quickly saw her and his weight was lifted off her. She watched motionless as they transferred him to a gurney, her side feeling startlingly cold without his body against hers .

"Adrien," a raspy voice sounded from her purse and she looked down in relief to see his kwami start to come to. Tikki started murmuring reassurances to Plagg as Marinette was ushered into a waiting room by a nurse and told they'd update her as soon as they could while handing her forms to fill out. She did what she could, but mainly just stared at the white wall in front of her, her whole life ceasing to make sense.

"He's Adrien. _Adrien."_

She kept repeating it to herself, but it didn't sink in until hours later when she was allowed to see him again. She walked into the white and slate blue room, not at all noticing the deliberately soothing colors because his eyes were on hers.

"Mari?" He looked at her quizzically. "What-What happened?"

"Chat..." she breathed, seeing his complete self fully for the first time.

Then the tears started to fall as she realized how close she'd been to losing him. So many things could have gone differently. Without the protection of the miraculous suit, he could have easily broken his neck. Plagg told her he'd used his baton to slow his fall, but the kwami couldn't hold on any longer and Adrien fell the final few feet, hitting his head on the dull edge of a dumpster as he went. It could have been so different...but he was here, concussed but fine.

Adrien. Chat. Her past crust and present love.

She rushed him then, half laying on the bed and hugging his waist tightly. He patted her shoulder lightly, clearly confused by her actions and she realized he didn't know. He had no idea that she was Ladybug. She froze.

"Mari? Are you okay?"

She quickly moved off the bed, wiping her eyes.

"Sorry," she gave a nervous chuckle and clasped her hands in front of her to stop from fidgeting. "You were unconscious for a while and I was...worried," she finished lamely, not quite able to meet his eyes. _Should she tell him that she knew?_ He'd seemed semi-conscious when she found him, his eyes opening and closing in confusion, but he clearly didn't remember any of that now.

"I found you after the akuma attack and brought you here," she decided on her vague answer, giving him time to work through the befuddlement of his mind and come to the memories himself. He still looked out of it. With his head injury...now wasn't the time for another big revelation.

He nodded at her response and then cringed at the motion, bringing a hand to his bandaged forehead lightly.

"I remember…" he began, grasping at the events of the day. "I remember the akuma attack. It was longer than usual, and then I got thrown-" His eyes flew to hers. "You called me Chat."

She grimaced, but nodded.

"I think you released your transformation right before you hit the ground. Chat was flung into the alleyway, but when I got there, you were laying against the wall."

"It was a long battle," he murmured to himself. "Ladybug was late. Plagg held on as long as he could. Wait, Plagg. Ladybug!" panic returned to his eyes, and Marinette took as step forward to lay a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back to a resting position against the pillows.

"It's fine. Ladybug finished it and I have Plagg," she opened her purse, angling it so Adrien couldn't see Tikki, and Plagg floated out, newly energized by the copious amounts of cheese Marinette had fed him.

"Way to let the cat out of the bag, kid," Plagg's snarky remark seemed to comfort Adrien more than any of Marinette's words, as he sunk the rest of the way back into bed. Despite his words, Marinette saw the tender concern in Plagg's eyes as he nestle into Adrien's side, just under the blankets and out of sight from any visiting nurses.

"Thank you," Adrien looked back up at Marinette. "I know this is strange, and I understand if you have questions-"

"We should definitely talk," Marinette cut him off. "But, you took a pretty hard blow to the head and the doctor said you have a severe concussion. I think any heavy conversation can wait a day until you have your wits about you."

"Are you saying I'm inca- _paw-_ citated for now, _Purr_ -incess?" He gave her a grin, and she had to sit, her knees weak from hearing Chat's name for her coming out of Adrien's mouth. And that smile...That was Chat's smirk...

"Well, your brain must not be too damaged. The pun-center is still chugging along," she sat back, relieved to see his face light up in it's familiar way.

"Seriously, though. Thank you, Mari. I'm sorry for worrying you," he gave her a tender smile; the same one she'd seen more and more prevalent on Chat's lips recently. The one that made her question whether he felt something for Marinette similar to what he claimed he felt for Ladybug. "You're a good…" he paused. "You're a good friend."

She watched him hesitate on that word, and her brain finally moved past worrying about his condition to fully function. Adrien had turned Marinette down because he was in love with another girl. Adrien was Chat. Chat was very openly in love with Ladybug. Ladybug was Marinette. Ergo, Adrien had turned down Marinette because his alter ego was in love with her alter ego.

Now, watching him struggle to call her _just_ a friend, and melding it with her and Chat's newfound intimacy in the last few months, Marinette's brain almost exploded. If she wasn't mistaken, it seemed like Chat was a little in love with Marinette too. The same girl his civilian self had turned down in favor of _her_ alter ego.

"Oh my god…" Marinette let her head fall into her hands, feeling like she was suddenly the one concussed.

"What?" She looked back at Adrien, trying not to laugh at the preposterous web they'd somehow tangled themselves in and grasping at how to respond to him.

"I just realized you turned me down for Ladybug," she replied vaguely, still coming to grips with what she'd just realized.

She needed to tell him. She looked over at him, and despite his condition, she couldn't let this go on anymore. She opened his mouth to do just that, when a petite woman with short black hair bustled in, her heels clicking menacingly against the linoleum flooring.

"Adrien!" She exclaimed, rushing over but stopping short of actually touching the boy.

"I'm okay, Natalie. I just got caught in an akuma attack. Marinette got me here," he smiled over at her, and she tentatively did so back. _Guess the big reveal will have to wait,_ she thought as Natalie pushed the call button and nurses started to come in and explain Adrien's condition.

Marinette sat there, silently giggling at Adrien's exasperated expression as he made funny faces at her behind Natalie's back. Suddenly, realizing her presence, the nurse turned to her.

"Miss, visiting hours were over twenty minutes ago. If you're not family, you have to leave."

"Oh!" she immediately stood, but paused, looking over at Adrien, reluctant to go. "I'll..um...I'll come back tomorrow, then."

"Sorry, Marinette. And thank you. Really," he looked at her and she melted.

"My pleasure," she winked at him, surprising herself with a surge of confidence, but it was finally sinking in that this was her chaton. "Bye, Kit-Adrien." She caught herself and then hustled out of the room.

About halfway home, Tikki finally broke her silence.

"You have to tell him," she squeaked up at Marinette while they walked down the abandoned street. She really hadn't noticed how late it had gotten.

"I know, and I was going to, but then Natalie walked in. But now…" she sighed. "Now I'm going to have to think about it all night and it's going to be ten times harder after I over-analyse what to say."

"Or, you could not wait," Tikki smiled mischievously at Marinette.

"What are you thinking?"

"Well, _Marinette_ can't get into the hospital after visiting hours, but I bet a certain spotted hero could find her way in."

"Tikki!" Marinette looked down at her kwami in shock. "Are you suggesting I break the rules?"

"I'm just listing your options," Tikki looked up at her charge innocently and Marinette couldn't help but laugh, loving this side of her kwami.

"Well when you put it like that," Marinette smiled down at her. "Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

Breaking into the hospital was way easier than it should have been. Doing so from the ground may have been next to impossible, but they didn't have any security on the roof. All she had to do was have Tikki open the door for her and she was in-although her kwami did not appreciate Marinette pointing out that this made her an accomplice to the breaking and entering.

She walked through the dimmed halls the the hospital, smiling sadly at those she happened to make eye-contact with and generally trying to put out a vibe of _I belong here_ in hopes that no one would realize she didn't. When she finally made it to Adrien's door, she quickly slipped in and shut it quietly behind her, thankful that the nurses' station happened to be empty and that Adrien's father had demanded he be moved to a private room. She turned and took a deep breath, all that separated them now was a curtain pulled around his bed. She had decided on the way over that the news would probably be better coming from Ladybug, so she pink glow ricocheted off the walls in the room and she heard him rustle in bed a bit.

Taking a few steps forward, she peeked around the curtain and her eyes met his immediately.

"La-Ladybug! Um…" He reached up and rubbed the back of his head anxiously. "Wha-What are you doing here?"

She walked over and perched on the edge of his bed. Leaning into impulse, she grabbed his hand.

"Chat," she whispered his name reverently. She looked at him and his shoulders sagged in relief.

"So you do know," he breathed out. "I know we promised not to reveal our identities, but I didn't exactly have a choice…"

"I am so, so sorry, Chat. I was almost too late…" She started to choke up, looking at his bandaged head and remembering the sight of him bleeding in an alley. Her vision starting to blur with unshed tears.

"Hey, LB, it's okay. Look," he gestured in the general direction of his body. "I'm fine. Everything is okay."

She tried to compose herself. She thought she'd gotten all the tears and worry out of her system earlier that day, but something about being Ladybug in front of her partner made her realize how she'd let him down.

"You should have-waited for me. Or called me. Or-Argh! I don't know," she angrily wiped at tears. "I don't like it when you're hurt," she finished lamely and he just smiled softly at her.

"Come here," he opened his arms, and she crawled into bed next to him, concentrating on his heart beat as the day's events caught up with her. "I'm alright," he repeated. "A...friend found me and brought me to the hospital."

It didn't escape her notice that he'd stuttered over calling Marinette a 'friend' again, and she knew it was time.

"I found you," she admitted, still curled into his chest.

"No," he responded simply. "Marinette found me. She was here when I woke up."

Ladybug sat up then, propping herself up against the mattress and laying another hand lightly on his chest.

"That's what I said," she looked at him seriously. "Adrien, _I_ found you."

He stared at her, his brain trying to work out her words and his eyes searching her face for the joke. She got out of bed and took a few steps away, waiting for his reaction.

"You…" he tried. "You...were with Marinette?"

She felt like groaning at his response. Maybe it was the concussion messing with his mental faculties, but, then again, they had know each other in and out of the mask for three years and neither of them had put it together. Maybe they were both a bit dense to begin with.

"I am Marinette," she decided to go for the blunt statement and released her transformation. He just stared at her. Luckily, she'd gotten to the point where she trusted her chaton and wasn't silly enough to worry that he'd be disappointed, but she was curious to watch him make the same connection she had earlier.

"Oh. My. God," he stuttered out.

"And, there it is," she smiled at him, trying not to laugh at the mess of their own creation. The web-the love square-that was actually just two people.

"I fell in love with you twice," he blurted, and it brought her up short.

"What?" As much as she had begun to hope that maybe Chat was falling for Marinette, she had not been expecting that admission. Adrien blushed, but then laughed. He brought a hand to his forehead in disbelief, but then cringed with it touched his bandage.

"Careful," she immediately moved to his side, and he took the opportunity to grab her hand.

"I might be imagining this, maybe I'm having hallucinations from brain swelling, but," he squeezed her hand. "Thank god it was you. I _wanted_ it to be you." His voice was hoarse and she reached down to place a hand against his cheek.

"I fell in love with you twice too, silly kitty," she stroked the cheek of the uninjured side of his face with the pad of her thumb before leaning down and kissing him. _Finally_ kissing him.

He tugged her hand and she fell back into bed at his side, breaking their kiss and nestling into him, immediately comforted by his warmth.

* * *

When a nurse came twenty minutes later to check and make sure Adrien hadn't fallen asleep, she was startled to find two teens in the bed instead of one. Adrien just grinned at her and held a finger to his lips in a universal sign for quiet. She rolled her eyes, but checked his vitals and left without disturbing the couple or mentioning the unauthorized visitor to anyone else.

"Young love," she shook her head fondly as she closed the door behind her with a smile.


End file.
